celebration birthday cupcakes

a birthday calls for a celebration and for my little man, that means chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! so, i tweaked my cocoa waffle recipe and came up with this!

enjoy.

for approx. 15 cupcakes, you will need:

5 pastured eggs
1/4 c melted coconut oil
1 T pure vanilla
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
 4 heaping T cocoa powder
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk (canned)
1/2 cup + 2 T coconut flour
1/2 cup sunflower seed flour
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup organic sugar (yep, not really paleo, but it's his BIRTHDAY)
1 small ripe banana

mix everything in blender or food processor until smooth. divide evenly into lined muffin pans, about 1/4 cup per muffin...i got 15.

for frosting you will need:

15 oz can coconut milk
16 oz dairy free chocolate chips

heat coconut milk until steaming. place chips in medium bowl and pour steaming milk over them and let stand 5 min. stir until glossy and smooth. let cool 15 minutes and whip with hand mixer or stand mixer until thick. spread on cupcakes :-)

(the sprinkles are most decidedly NOT paleo...and I don't care)

nom nom

the best chocolate chip cookies EVAH

******** hey y'all*******updated recipe********improved!

wanted to make these with half sunbutter and half tahini, plus i wanted to fiddle with the texture to make them softer...so i added an extra egg...now they are perfect!

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ok. paleo or not, these are just ridiculous.

without a doubt the best cookies i have ever wrapped my teeth around,

and i have eaten a lot of cookies in 42 years

these are safe for my little man as they are grain-free, dairy-free and nut-free.

enough speaking. just go make these...

right now.

for approx. 24 cookies, you'll need:

1 cup tahini (sesame seed butter...better results if you pour off the oil that collects on top and save for another use)
1/3 cup organic coconut sugar
2 pastured eggs
2 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t sea salt
3/4 cup dairy free chocolate chips or chunks

mix together all ingredients in a bowl (i used my stand mixerfor all of it except the chocolate chips as my tahini was a bit thick and chunky). scoop by tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie pans and squash each cookie down a bit as they don't spread much in the oven. bake at 350 for exactly 12 minutes...these burn easily, do not overbake.

toll house, eat your heart out.

nomnom

lemon-coconut meltaways

i love all things lemon, don't you?

well, you should :-)

anyway, i also love simple recipes and cookies, so this little gem is a win-win...and it's grain-free, too :-)

we don't use a lot of butter around here, but when we indulge in it, we use a grass-fed variety, like Kerrygold and that's what i used in these lemon cookies.

for a dairy free version, use coconut oil.

for 12 tiny cookies, you'll need:

6 T coconut flour
4 T grass-fed butter, ghee, or coconut oil, cold
1 T raw honey
2 T coconut sugar
2 pinches sea salt
zest of one lemon
juice from one lemon
coconut sugar for dusting

mix everything together in food processor. drop by rounded teaspoons onto parchment lined pans. press lightly with the bottom of a flat glass and dust with sugar. bake at 365 degrees for approx. 9 minutes. do not overbake. let cool a minute or two and just try not to eat every single one of them in one sitting! (notice there are only 9 left on my rack?)

nomnom

Paleo cocoa-sunflour waffles

welcome back! where ya been?

i've been making waffles

we recently discovered that in addition to my son being sensitive to gluten and allergic to dairy, he is allergic to all tree nuts.

that means no cashews, brazil nuts, pecans,

or almonds

that is devastation, right there, because as you may or may not know, Paleo baking's lynchpin is typically some type of nut flour, usually almond.

i was thrown into a near panic.

but then, i put on my big girl panties and got to work.

and discovered something quite amazing...

sunflower flour

yep, that's right. flour made from good old, everyday sunflower seeds. so, not only can i substitute it for almond flour....wait for it...it's about HALF the price of almonds!

yippee!!

and also? i can substitute sunflour for some of the eggs in my coconut flour recipes and just add in a wee bit more liquid, like in my waffle recipe which normally calls for 8 eggs...and 8 pastured, organic eggs cost, like, a million bucks, so this is great news!

we decided we were in the mood for chocolate waffles, so i omitted the cinnamon in my regular recipe and put in a hefty dose of cocoa powder, cut the eggs in half and threw in the sunflour along with a bit of orange juice and...these babies taste like chocolate donuts and don't even need any syrup or honey to make them outstanding.

my son is happy and his belly is full.

which makes this mama very, very happy.

for approx. 5 waffles you'll need:

4 pastured eggs
1/4 c melted coconut oil or other oil
1 T pure vanilla
1.5 t baking soda
1/4 t sea salt
2 heaping T cocoa powder
2/3 c full fat organic coconut milk (from a can, not the beverage)
1/2 c organic coconut flour
1/2 c organic sunflour (grind hulled sunflower seeds in food processor, vitamix or coffee grinder)
1/4 c fresh squeezed orange juice
2 T melted raw honey
1 small very ripe banana

this recipe is the easy peasy bomb...just throw everything into your blender of choice, zoom it up and pour into your waffle iron...cook till done and enjoy plain or with some pure maple syrup.

nomnom.

Paleo banana bread granola

we love granola around here...but it ain't usually paleo, what with all those oats running around it.

so i did some research and smushed together a few recipes and came up with this...

enjoy!


for about 10 cups:

1 cup raw pecans
1 cup raw cashews
2 cups raw almonds
2 cups raw walnuts
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup ground golden flax
1 whole egg
3T coconut oil, solid
2 cups shredded coconut (sweet or unsweet, up to you)
2 very ripe bananas
1/4 pure maple syrup
2T cinnamon
1T pure vanilla
generous pinch sea salt

dried fruit, totaling 1-2 cups

in  your food processor, grind up nuts until they resemble oats and no longer resemble nuts :-) add in sunflower seeds, flax and the egg...pulse a few times. dump into a big bowl and add oil, coconut, bananas, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and sea salt.

get your kids to mix it up since its really, really sticky :-)

drop tablespoon-sized clumps of it onto cookie sheets, leaving some spaces like in the below picture. pop it in the oven at about 250 degrees for about 1.5 hours or until as done as you like it. it will crisp up a bit as it cools.

add in your dried fruit and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. enjoy with almond or coconut milk or over cultured almond yogurt.

feel free to customize ALL ingredients and ratios...it is uber-flexible.

thanks to www.againstallgrain.com for the recipe inspiration :-)

this is what it looks like as it's going in the oven:

nom nom

happy birthday to me paleo whoopie pies!

i seriously just accidentally made whoopie pies...and they are paleo :-)

ok, ok, no, cavepeople DID NOT eat whoopie pies but if they'd had an oven and a kitchen aid mixer and palm shortening, they certainly would have.

let's face it...these aren't health food by any stretch of the imagination, nor are they really paleo (non-hydrogenated palm shortening, what?) but, hey...

tomorrow is my birthday :-)

i've been on this paleo journey for 6 weeks now...i feel so much better all around...i've lost a bunch of weight, my arthritis is not nearly as bad and i've had way fewer headaches and migraines.

i am very happy.

so, in honor of the 42nd year that jesus has seen fit to give me....i made whoopie pies!

did i mention it happened by accident?

i wanted to make paleo chocolate chip cookies, but i had zero chocolate chips, so i decided to make cocoa cookies instead and just made this recipe up by the seat of my pants.

it came out nothing like what i wanted

i had envisioned a chewy, dense, chocolately, slightly-crisp-on-the-outside and soft-in-the-center type of cookie but what i got was a very light, very airy and very intensely chocolate cookie that was really very much like a slice of cake. hmmmmm......i immediately thought of whoopie pies and set out to make some kind of paleo-friendly filling...and this is what i came up with!

so...happy birthday to me!

for the 24 cookies:

3/4 c coconut oil, solid
1/2 cup coconut sugar or honey
1/2 T vanilla
5 eggs
1/8t salt
3/4 c coconut flour
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp baking soda

beat sugar or honey with coconut oil until smooth. add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. mix in vanilla, salt, coconut flour, cocoa and soda until well blended. using a small scoop, scoop out cookie dough onto parchment lined sheet pans, about 2 inches apart. wet the bottom of a glass and dip it into organic sugar, then use the glass to slightly flatten each cookie. bake approx 10 min at 375 degrees...do not over bake! let cool completely before frosting.

for the frosting:

1 cup palm shortening
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 T vanilla extract

whip palm shortening in a stand mixer until light and smooth. gradually add in the honey, about 1T at a time, whipping between additions. repeat with maple syrup. add vanilla and continue whipping until light and airy, approx. 10 minutes. please adjust the amounts of honey and syrup to your taste...some may like it much more sweet than i do :-) fill each whoopie pie with 2 T frosting and celebrate!!

in the picture below, i made another batch and reduced the eggs from 5 to 3 and omitted the soda in an effort to get a less-cakey version. i actually like the cakey version much better :-)

nom nom

honey pork shoulder with brussels sprouts slaw

tonight i have a recipe for you that is not dessert.

shocking, i know

but even paleo cavegirls have to eat dinner, at least once per day :-)

i wish we had taken some photos, but we ate it so fast, there was no time.

i hope you like it as much as we did...

honey pork shoulder with brussels sprouts slaw

for the pork:

3-4 pound pork shoulder
1/3 cup raw honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 T ancho chili powder
2 T Weber (tm) Chicago Steak Seasoning

mix together honey, vinegar and seasonings. rub all over pork shoulder. place pork into a heavy dutch oven, cover and cook on 300 degrees for about 4 hours or until falling apart tender. Shred pork slightly into big chunks, pour cooking liquid over the top and serve with slaw.

for the slaw:

4-5 cups shredded raw brussels sprouts
3 shredded carrots
3/4 cup paleo-friendly mayo, or homemade mayo
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
salt and pepper to taste

mix everything together in a big bowl, refrigerate one hour and eat :-)

even my littl'uns wolfed it all down!

nom nom

yummy paleo banana cake

hey there, hi there, ho there!

long time, no see

i so wish i had more time to blog and less time to do laundry, homeschool, grocery shop, plan meals, raise kids, go to church...

wait a minute...no i don't!

i love all those things (well, maybe not laundry, so much) but i do love my not-so-terrribly mundane life of being a jesus-loving, homeschooling, food-obsessed mother and wife.

i am blessed.

so if the posts come fast and furious some weeks and a vast desert of time in between,

forgive me?

here's my latest...a yummy banana cake recipe that I found over at www.civilizedcavemancooking.com. i didn't change a thing, it's his wholeheartedly and so, so yummy.

thanks, caveman :-)

4 bananas, yellow (they do not need to be overly ripe but you can if you want)

4 eggs

1/2 cup almond butter (or any nut butter, i.e. macadamia, pecan, etc)

4 tablespoons grass-fed butter, melted (can substitute coconut oil)

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
2. Combine your bananas, eggs, and nut butter, and grass-fed butter in a blendtec, blender, food processor, or mixing bowl and mix well (if using a mixing bowl you need a good hand-mixer)
3. Once all of your ingredients are blended, add in your coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sea salt and mix well
4. Grease a 9×5 glass (see notes) loaf pan with a fat of your choice (I used grass-fed butter).
5. Pour in your batter and spread it evenly throughout
6. Place in your preheated oven and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
7. Remove from oven and flip your bread out onto a cooling rack
8. Slice and serve

 

nom nom

healthy, easy Paleo chicken nuggets

every kid in the world loves chicken nuggets, including mine.

but, being uber health-conscious plus Paleo means they are a big no-no in terms of the golden arches type.

but, never fear, mom is here

these are crazy delicious and really, really good for you!

(please to ignore my really old, trusty, baked-on-grease pans, ok?)

ok.

i used one $5 package of organic chicken thighs from costco...there are about 3 nice-sized thighs in the package, which turned out to be more than enough for two adults and two kids.

even kids who are jonesing for mickey d's...

so, just cut them up into bite or two-bite sized pieces, pat dry and season with some kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper...

now, set up your breading station and prepare to get messy, there is just no way around it. you'll need about:

1/4 cup arrowroot powder (i actually had to use cornstarch, which you see below, since that is all i had, but it's not paleo, so if you want to be legal, use arrowroot)

2 whole eggs (you will have some left over, so you can try it with one egg and see if it's enough, but i never want to stop and make more so i just start with plenty) ((also, you could sub flax eggs if you are egg-free))

1/4 c almond milk (or half that if you are using one egg and feeling lucky)

1/2 c almond flour

1/4 c coconut flour

1 tsp herbs de provence

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 T nutritional yeast flakes (available at health food markets and gives a nice, cheesy, nutty taste the kids will adore)

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper


:: place arrowroot (or cornstarch, if you are cheating) in one bowl

   mix together egg and almond milk in another bowl

   combine remaining ingredients in a third bowl

coat nuggets in arrowroot...shake off excess. this step creates a barrier between the chicken and the breading.

next, dip each nugget into the egg/milk mixture...and this is where it gets messy.

roll each battered nugget in the nut flour mixture and coat well. wash hands. repeatedly. remain calm. sing several songs.

it will be worth it.

place coated nuggets on a cooling rack set into a pan and let rest 10 min or so. this gives the starches a chance to fully hydrate and adhere to the nugget. drink a glass of wine while you wait.

or put lots of hand lotion on your hands that are now super dry from all that hand washing.

coat pan very thickly with coconut oil or other healthy oil and bake 'em at 375 degrees for approx. 20 min., flipping them after 10 minutes or so. You can cook them longer if you like them browner or crispier...thighs can handle a lot of cooking.

it is not golden arches...not by a long shot.

it is much, much better.

nomnom

yummy paleo snickerdoodles

hey y'all.

sorry for the lack of posts lately..life is busy...i am sure you understand.

but really i am just struggling with the winter doldrums,

and satan

i know that sounds dramatic, but it's true. i believe when we draw very near to God, our hearts become very vulnerable to the enemy.

so, i've been laying low. praying. talking to God. trying each day to decide to obey Him. it should be easy, with all He's given us.

but sometimes it isn't.

pray for me, would you?

and i will thank you for it in Jesus' name...

(and with some yummy snickerdoodle cookies :-))

::recipe slightly modified from urbanposer::

for approx 16 cookies, you will need:

2 cups finely ground almonds (homemade or store bought "flour")

1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt, depending on how much you dig salt

1 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp soft coconut oil

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tsp pure vanilla

1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon, plus 1 more tsp for rolling

2 tbsp organic sugar or coconut crystals for rolling

heat oven to 350 degrees and line a pan with parchment

mix all ingredients through first 1 tbsp cinnamon together in a bowl with your hands. this will be messy, but stangely satisfying. lick all the bits off your fingers (wash your hands) and proceed.

scoop 1 tbsp balls, roll in cinnamon sugar mixture and place a few inches apart on parchment lined pan. press each ball down with the bottom of a flat glass...they stick so either wet the glass in between cookies or dip bottom of glass into leftover cinnamon sugar mixture between cookies...either way works.

bake anywhere from 8-10 min. do not over bake. let cool on pan about 10 min and enjoy.

nomnom

a good, basic paleo muffin

we need bread over here.

some kind of bread.

so here it is. a really good, moist, light, basic bread. we've had them plain, with pastured butter, with jam, with honey and even split them, grilled them and used them for slider buns. yum!

beware. these are NOT sweet. i wanted bread, not cake.

BUT

i fully intend to make them much more cupcake-like by at least tripling the honey at a later date :-)

paleo muffins:

makes 12

6 whole, organic eggs
1/2 c + 2 tbsp organic coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup date sugar
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
1/2 c organic coconut flour
1/4 c organic golden flaxseed meal
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

place all wet ingredients into blender, then all dry ingredients and blend until thoroughly combined. should be similar to a thick pancake batter.

pour into a greased muffin pan...you can use coconut oil to grease the pan or pastured butter or ghee or whatever you have on hand.

bake at 325 degrees for approx 25 min or until slightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. enjoy!

nomnom

mmmm...paleo pancakes

****Hey y'all!!! Major overhaul on pancake recipe! It's perfect now!***************

delicious, grain-free pancakes...

it's what's for lunch

and dinner

we love pancakes and quite often have them for one or two meals each week, usually with some delicious bacon or sausage. but, i have to go shopping as we are all out of breakfast meats...so for today, just pancakes.

we don't mind.

you'll need the following to make about 27 large pancakes:

9 eggs
4 T coconut oil, melted
1 T pure vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 T cinnamon
scant 1/4 c date sugar (this is key to the great texture, do not substitute)
2/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 small, ripe banana

heave it all into your blender, zoom for a minute and done. pour pancakes onto 300 degree skillet and cook  until almost done, at least 3-4 minutes...low and slow is KEY. flip and cook about a minute longer and enjoy with pure maple syrup, honey or coconut whipped cream.

almost there....

a simple, delicous and nourishing lunch!


nomnom

breakfast smoothie

     after a few days of paleo waffles and chips and guacamole...

i feel the distinct need for simplicity.

a lovely combo of:

a big handful of organic black kale

a big handful of baby spinach

two clementines, peeled

one medium banana, peeled

spring water and ice

zoom zoom

nomnom

my paleo lunch

 

 

i love mexican food. really, really love it. every bit of it's ooey-gooey-cheesy-corn-chipy-goodness. pre-paleo we had taco night at least once a week.

 

it was sacrosanct.

 

but now, well, it just doesn't seem doable. how do you have a taco without a wheat or corn tortilla? or cheese? or tomatoes? (for those of us on the AI protocol)

 

then i got to thinking...

 

one of the things i really love about mexican involves none of those ingredients: guacamole!

 

of course, you do have to have some sort of chip to get it to your mouth, although i am seriously NOT above just shoveling the stuff in my pie hole with a spoon.

 

just sayin'.

 

 

so i remembered reading something about making your own potato chips in the microwave but, of course, AI protocol and all...no white potatoes for me.

(i fried up a mess of them the other day, thinking this rule didn't apply to me and ate a ton. i felt like crap for two days. ugh.)

and also? guac on potato chips just sounds...gross.

but, hey! why not sweet potato chips? sounds good to me! so i got out my trusty mandoline slicer so i could get the sweet potatoes really thin, some olive oil and salt and went to work.

i set the mandoline to it's thinnest setting and sliced up about 1/4 of one peeled sweet potato.

you can do this by hand, but to get the thinnest possible chips, you are gonna need some serious knife skills.

please do not cut yourself, chips are not worth blood.

spray a piece of parchment with the oil of your choice....i used olive oil as i am still panting by the mailbox waiting for my gallon of pure coconut oil to arrive.

what?

then, place raw chips on parchment, spray again with some oil and sprinkle with salt...use a light hand with the salt as it is easy to over-do it.

i trimmed up my parchement to fit better in the microwave and to allow it to turn freely...you could probably just use a paper plate, but this holds a lot more chips!

i must be very secure to take a picture of the inside of my microwave.

now, just zap them! every micro is different, so watch them close. i cooked 'em for 4 minutes, removed the ones that were done and zapped the rest for another minute.

be sure to wait a minute or two before deciding to cook them more if you think they aren't crispy enough. they crisp up quite a bit as they cool.

now, for the star of the meal...the guacamole.

so simple, anyone can make it yummy.

i don't have a recipe, per se, i just sorta throw it all in and taste as i go.  you should too.

but, you'll need:

 one ripe avocado

 juice of half a lime

 a clove of fresh garlic

 cumin seed 

 salt

see? just chop, squeeze, sprinkle and taste...so so so so good...

one perfect bite. one perfect paleo mexican bite.

nomnom.

Mourning the loss of Seymour

about two years ago I created a sourdough starter. we named him seymour.

as in, "feed me seymour"? get it?

he made wonderful bread. really wonderful grain-filled loaves of love.

sigh.

my kids are not happy, to say the least. they started most days with several slices of seymour, toasted and dripping in butter.

so did i.

SO.

the mission becomes creating a sourdough coconut flour starter, a paleo starter.

apparently this will be the first in the world because everything I've read suggests it cannot be done.

oh yeah? we shall see.

 

 

all props to my favoite sourdough grain-based cookbook and it's author, the amazing chad robertson....such wonderful loaves of bread.

 





here's how one normally makes a wheat-based ferment...

here's how i am attempting a coconut-based ferment...

 

50 grams of organic coconut flour...

 



200 grams of spring water...

 

 



 

kinda resembles playdough....not gonna work...

 

 



 

so i added about 200 grams more of spring water...

 

 



 

 

which makes for a liquid starter, but, hey we are in uncharted territory here, so let's give it a whirl, shall we?

 



 

 

now here is my (hopefully) secret weapon...probiotic capsules. definitely NOT something you would see in a wheat starter but i am just not sure how much wild yeast digs coconut flour, so i thought i would give the local flora a boost with billions of good bugs.

 

 



 

so below is the start of something great (i hope). we named him pauleo. get it? so, off to the dark cupboard you go, pauleo. we'll see you in a few days when hopefully you will be bubbling and a bit stinky (in a good way).

 

nomnom